Friday, December 18, 2009

Back in October the Preds were embarrased at their own arena by the Edmonton Oilers, LAST night however, they got their revenge..... and it was SWEET!

The first five minutes of the game seemed to be going the same route as the previous one, but with an early time-out by Coach Trotz, and a goaltender switcheroo, the momentum came straight to the visiting team's bench. In all fairness, the 2 early goals by the Oilers (one on a powerplay and the other where the Defense was just schooled) were not Pek's fault, but Trotz had to make a tough choice and get the team fired up...... AND it worked. You see that Trotzy haters? HE MAKES GOOD DECISIONS..... like always!

7 minutes later, Ryan Jones scores his fourth goal of the season, bringing the boys within 1, and continuing to post his reasons why he should be in the Big League, after all, he IS getting paid those Big Boy dollars. If Jones keeps playing like this, there will be no doubt for the nay-sayers out there regarding Jonesy.... He belongs up here, and it is very good to see him producing and playing very well.

Not to be outdone, the hottest line for the Nashville Predators, the Ward, Legwand, Smithson line connected for Wardo to get the game tying goal around the 16 minute mark of the first period. It is so good to see this line really connecting and producing for the Preds, cannot tell you how long we have been waiting for Leggy to really connect for the team and produce like we know he can. Watching the set-up and the goal there really was never any doubt that the puck was going in to the net on that sequence, and that is what makes this team fun to watch. They are creating chances and the follow-up from the guys is what is really impressive. This team will not quit, and that is what is going to take them far.

Just to steal more momentum from the home team, Marcel Goc (one of my new favorites to watch) scores 50 seconds later and helps take his team to the locker room after the first with a come from behind 3-2 lead. Goc is truly making a name for himself with this Predators team, and JP Dumont set him up for that goal beautifully. Goc has 5 goals on the season.......Marcel Goc... who would have thought THAT was going to happen?

The Predators did not lay low for the second period either, with Patric Horn-Dog Hornqvist scoring the 4th goal on the night for the Preds (his 9th on the season). Playing hard and generating chances seems to be working for this team, but Deslauriers kept the game close (if you can call it that). The Oilers team is fast, and usually the Preds cannot keep up with that kind of speed, usually losing confidence and allowing the other team to come back and score a few. The Oilers did make their mark during one of these unfocused times with Nilsson netting a powerplay goal during the second to pull within 1. Horn Dog would not have any of it though, taking full advantage of the extra man and scoring goal number 5 for the visiting team, his 10th on the season. Yes, you read that right, 10th..... BY THE WAY, only Jason Arnott and Martin Erat have more goals than Horny.....

The third period, was not the Preds but they came through it not allowing any goals, and scoring a legitimate goal from Jerred Smithson with seconds to go in the game, effectively nailing the coffin shut for the Oilers. Smithers was determined to score, since his empty netter was called back seconds before for an off-sides by Legwand.

Last night's game was fun to watch, and being a Predator fan has been a pleasant surprise this year. A rough beginning, a hot streak in November, a couple of rough games to begin December, and the start of a new streak in the making now. The tough part will be when they visit the Calgary Flames on Saturday for the second meeting of the season. The first, much like the first meeting between the Oilers and the Preds, did not go well for Trotz and his team, but with the team's confidence rising, and realizing that even with their "no-name" talent they can do well, maybe they can exact revenge on the Flames. Calgary does seem to school the Preds everytime they meet, and with their offensive talent and Kipper in net, they have every reason to do so. Personally, I am hoping for a huge upset on behalf of the Preds.

During his Post-game interview, Ellis told Pete and Terry that Peks was suffering from a little bit of the flu....... get better Peks!!!! That makes the decision to pull him so early a little more understandable, considering the 2 goals he had against him were not neccesarily his fault, a great decision by Trotz. He needed momentum, and he got it. It just sucks that Peks was feeling bad, and couldn't get this "W".

Looking forward to Saturday's game, even though I won't be able to see any of it..... ahhhh the life of a retail store manager at holiday time. No room for hockey.....

Monday, December 7, 2009

I am currently suffering from MASSIVE hockey withdrawal right now waiting for Saturday's game at 501 Broadway against the Red Wings.....

Hopefully the result will be much better than the last home game against the Wild. Especially after the incredible win versus the Hawks the night before. Unfortunately, there are many, many people that watch the Predators and have realized that team plays to the team that they are playing against. When they play an elite team like the Sharks, Hawks, Red Wings, and many others, there appears to be a fire in their hearts and skates. On the flip side, when a last place team or close to last place team comes in to the arena, the Preds play down, whether they believe it should be an easy game, or simply don't want to work as hard.A large problem that has been discussed amongst fans of the Preds is the lack of heart brought to the ice by our Captain, Jason Arnott, who seems only to have the energy or willingness to play about half of the time. The way he plays right now, and has for a while is lack-luster to say the least. Half of the time, I am simply unaware that he is playing, unless the goal horn goes off and Paul announces his name for the goal. yes, I know he is a leading scorer, but honestly he is not fun to watch. GIVE ME TOOTS (this year), Horny, and even SCATCH ANYTIME!Now the young talent on the team comes out guns a blazing and generates chances, those are the players that should be on the ice. Have a bad night? BENCH them.... no matter what line they are on. Remember what happened to Erat? Injury or not, the scratch did him some good. He has totally won back a little piece of my heart in the past few weeks and actually appears to be having a good time on the ice, and generating chances with his patented spin moves.Simply laying out my peace to keep frustrations from building up.....LET'S go Preds!!

Friday, December 4, 2009

1st goal of the game.... Hammer & Elly get schooled by Toews. Yes boys, that IS the same Toews from the press conference the other day that got signed for A LOT of money by the Blackhawks, the same on that Coach and everyone else has told you to watch and take care of.....2nd goal: Hammer totally redeems himself. assisted by Oreilly and Franson :0)

Ryan Suter interview after 1st intermission: Says that Trotzy has told them not to cross their skates, or you get "screwed" hahahahahhahaha That made me smile a lot!

Also seeing the United Way commercial with Jonesy doesn't make me sad now because he is back up!

Brouwer trips Klein into the boards hard sending Klein to the dressing room immediately....but Klein returns to the ice shortly after, taking his regular shifts, even though there were tweets to Admirals staff asking if Sulzer could come back to Nashville after their game tonight.... all is well though...

Then in a surprising move, ok... just surprising to him, Erat redirects a puck from Toots leading to the 2nd goal of the night for the Preds... THIS is what happens when you have net presence boys!

Leggy with an awesome D move in the second as Elly and Weber get tied up on a breakaway, Leggy continues to play strong and seems to be having a wonderful year. He and Ward are really communicating and creating opportunities, plus blocking the other team's chances.

Suter swatted away an opportunity in the second while the Hawks crashed the Pred's net and continues to play strong.THEN Tootoo fed a shot to Erat to make it 2-1 Preds. Really glad to see Toots get the assist on this goal, but even more stoked to see his GOAL

The third period starts with an immediate shot on goal by the Hawks, but it was gobbled up by Ellis, who was OUTSTANDING tonight!The Hawks never let up, but neither did the Preds, they were absolutely playing to WIN!!!

Toots had been due for a goal with his play over the last month, and finally cashed in with his second of the season, followed 35 seconds later by a pass from Leggy to Ward that resulted in the 4th and final goal of the game.

Incredible win for the Preds tonight, now they should be looking to exact revenge on the Wild tomorrow after their awful loss a few days ago.......Needless to say, GO PREDS!

About Me

Rebecca is a hockey fan stuck in one of the most non-hockey cities. As often as she can, she makes the 2 1/2 hour trek east on I-40 to see the Preds in action. She is just as happy to go to a game, or simply to watch them practice and collect autographs. Nashville is her team, and she is not afraid to tell everyone about them, considering it her duty to spread the word about the greatest sport in the world to the masses of people who don't even know that this state has a team.